Data from: Social and emotional contexts predict the development of gaze following in early infancy

The development of gaze following begins in early infancy and its
developmental foundation has been under heavy debate. Using a longitudinal
design (N = 118), we demonstrate that attachment quality predicts
individual differences in the onset of gaze following, at 6 months of age,
and that maternal postpartum depression predicts later gaze following, at
10 months. In addition, we report longitudinal stability in gaze following
from 6 to 10 months. A full path model (using attachment, maternal
depression, and gaze following at 6) accounted for 21 % of variance in
gaze following at 10 months. These results suggest an experience-dependent
development of gaze following, driven by the infant’s own motivation to
interact and engage with others (the social-first perspective).